Bad news for Wolves fans hoping to catch one more glimpse of one of the NBA's greatest players at the tail end of his career. LeBron James has been ruled out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game at Minnesota on Friday night due to soreness in his left foot.
James will miss his second straight game when the Lakers return from a four-day break to face the Timberwolves, the Lakers announced Thursday.
The top scorer in NBA history was away from the team this week with an excused absence attributed to “personal reasons,” coach JJ Redick said Wednesday. It’s unclear whether James will even make the quick round trip to Minnesota before the Lakers’ next game at home against Memphis on Sunday.
James missed his first game of his record-tying 22nd NBA season when the Lakers beat Portland at home last Sunday. That absence also was attributed to his foot injury.
James is averaging 23.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds for the Lakers (13-11), who have lost seven of 10 after a 10-4 start.
For the Wolves, they have been off since Sunday night and get some good news with rookie guard Rob Dillingham back after he was injured during the recent road trip.
Head Coach Chris Finch says Dillingham has been doing some good things for the Wolves and they'll be glad to get him back in the rotation.
"Right now, he has a really good comfort level of playmaking and scoring, and being aggressive with the ball in his hands," says Finch. "I think he's found a small package within our offense that he really can thrive in. I think tearing that down for him and for him being comfortable is important because he can focus on those things."
Finch adds that defensively he's competing but has more work to do making an impact on that end of the floor.
Minnesota (12-11) has been up-and-down and still searching for the cohesiveness that led them to the Western Conference Finals last year. Finch says the team's struggles on offense in the Sunday loss to Golden State starts with moving the ball better. He called out the team and star Anthony Edwards for too many "hero shots" and says they need to work as a unit.
"It could definitely be an area of improvement," he told reporters. "It was one of the things we were working on today. Just the movement of our offense. But, yeah, we have a lot of guys who kind of want the ball early and part of making the right play is we could do this with and without the ball. Like, it's always kind of talked about, with the ball, but you gotta share the floor with your teammates by cutting and moving and we gotta get better in that area."
GAME PREVIEW
Los Angeles Lakers (13-11, eighth in the Western Conference) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (12-11, ninth in the Western Conference)
Minneapolis; Friday, 7 p.m.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Timberwolves -7; over/under is 217
BOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles hits the road against Minnesota looking to end its three-game road losing streak.
The Timberwolves are 9-8 in Western Conference games. Minnesota is the worst team in the NBA scoring 12.8 fast break points per game.
The Lakers are 10-6 in conference games. Los Angeles has a 3-7 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Timberwolves average 110.5 points per game, 5.3 fewer points than the 115.8 the Lakers allow. The Lakers score 5.1 more points per game (112.1) than the Timberwolves give up to opponents (107.0).
TOP PERFORMERS: Anthony Edwards is shooting 45.3% and averaging 26.4 points for the Timberwolves.
Anthony Davis is scoring 27.5 points per game and averaging 11.2 rebounds for the Lakers.
LAST 10 GAMES: Timberwolves: 5-5, averaging 106.8 points, 43.5 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 9.1 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.2 points per game.
Stephen Curry scores 30 and dishes out eight assists as Warriors beat Timberwolves 114-106
Lakers: 3-7, averaging 104.9 points, 40.0 rebounds, 25.8 assists, 8.3 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.4 points.
INJURIES: Timberwolves: Rob Dillingham: day to day (ankle), Joe Ingles: day to day (soleus).
Lakers: Jarred Vanderbilt: out (knee), LeBron James: day to day (foot), Christian Wood: out (knee), Austin Reaves: day to day (pelvis), Jaxson Hayes: out (ankle).
The Associated Press contributed to this story.